Improve your prostate health: sex...

PROSTATE

What is prostate?

The prostate is a walnut-sized gland located between the bladder and the penis.  It is found below the bladder (where urine is stored) and surrounds the tube that carries urine away from the bladder (urethra). The prostate secretes fluid that nourishes and protects sperm. During ejaculation, the prostate squeezes this fluid into the urethra, and it’s expelled with sperm as semen. Semen is the white fluid that contains sperm.

Do you need to worry about prostate issues?

More and more males suffer from an enlarged prostate, mostly due to lack of exercise.

Nightly bathroom runs may be the first sign of an enlarged prostate. Other symptoms may include trouble starting a stream of urine, leaking, or dribbling.

An enlarged prostate - benign prostatic hyperplasia, (BPH) is growth of the prostate gland to an unhealthy size. A man's chances of having BPH go up with age:

• Age 31-40: one in 12
• Age 51-60: about one in two
• Over age 80: more than eight in 10

Enlarged Prostate Symptoms and Causes

In men, urine flows from the bladder through the urethra. BPH is a benign (noncancerous) enlargement of the prostate that blocks the flow of urine through the urethra. The prostate cells gradually multiply, creating an enlargement that puts pressure on the urethra -- the "chute" through which urine and semen exit the body.

As the urethra narrows, the bladder has to contract more forcefully to push urine through the body.

Over time, the bladder muscle may gradually become stronger, thicker, and overly sensitive; it begins to contract even when it contains small amounts of urine, causing a need to urinate frequently. Eventually, the bladder muscle cannot overcome the effect of the narrowed urethra so urine remains in the bladder and it is not completely emptied.

Symptoms of enlarged prostate can include:

• A weak or slow urinary stream
• A feeling of incomplete bladder emptying
• Difficulty starting urination
• Frequent urination
• Urgency to urinate
• Getting up frequently at night to urinate
• A urinary stream that starts and stops
• Straining to urinate
• Continued dribbling of urine
• Returning to urinate again minutes after finishing

When the bladder does not empty completely, you become at risk for developing urinary tract infections. Other serious problems can also develop over time, including bladder stones, blood in the urine, incontinence, and acute urinary retention (an inability to urinate). A sudden and complete inability to urinate is a medical emergency; you should see your doctor immediately. In rare cases, bladder and/or kidney damage can develop from BPH.

Prostate Tests

• Digital rectal examination (DRE): A doctor inserts a lubricated, gloved finger into the rectum and feels the prostate. A DRE can sometimes detect an enlarged prostate, lumps or nodules of prostate cancer, or tenderness from prostatitis.
• Prostate-specific antigen (PSA): The prostate makes a protein called PSA, which can be measured by a blood test. If PSA is high, prostate cancer is more likely, but an enlarged prostate can also cause a high PSA.
• Prostate ultrasound (transrectal ultrasound): An ultrasound probe is inserted into the rectum, bringing it close to the prostate. Ultrasound is often done with a biopsy to test for prostate cancer.
• Prostate biopsy: A needle is inserted into the prostate to take tissue out to check for prostate cancer. This is usually done through the rectum.

Three simple steps of looking after your prostate:

- more sex

- more exercise

- do not put your mobile phone in the front pocket of your trousers

Quoted from:

http://men.webmd.com/picture-of-the-prostate  

http://men.webmd.com/guide/prostate-problems

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=21562

Therapy Room 2013 
Marta Biczkowska 
Psychologist